I have been going to Starbucks almost every day to get iced coffee and I saw this flourless chocolate chewy cookie on display and I hella wanted one. But then I decided to procrastinate and make them so I didn’t have to limit myself to one! These are magnificently chewy and chocolatey – but make sure you eat them in a day or two (or share) or else they get hard.
I still have never been to Momofuku Milk Bar! But I have the cookbook and have been making a ton of stuff since I got it back in 2011. If anyone asks what to buy me, please buy me a cookbook. I want to build a collection of those in my house library someday. Also any coffee table book or good novel you are reading at the moment. I actually talked about having a library in my home with some friends this weekend. I want a real old looking library, with black cherry wooden shelves and desk. I want a spinning globe in there and a big world map framed on the wall. I love the way old libraries look – walking in there, you can feel the wealth of knowledge that surrounds you. Feel the wealth of works created from people and the amount of stuff you can learn in the world. I have always been the person who wants to learn everything and see everything because I am interested in everything. We are only in one life, so why not make it one full of intellect and memories? Learning other people’s points of views gives perspective and also vigor to your own beliefs.
I made these cookies because I had more than half a box of leftover Corn Flakes from when I made my Oven Fried Chicken. I had guests over during the long weekend so I wanted to give them something to snack on. Momofuku’s cookies are always super buttery and sweet so beware. But everyone LOVED them so this one was definitely a winner.
Doubly chocolate coooookies! Studying for finals and needed my chocolate fix. I wish I had luxurious dutch processed cocoa and dark chocolate chips, but normal cocoa and semi sweet does the job. Since double chocolate cookies are dark in the oven, you can’t really tell when they are done or not so slightly underbake them if you aren’t sure! I hope these cookies give me super powers to get me through my last 2 finals of my law school career. Crazy!
HEALTH FOOD MEGA POST!!!! I love healthy foods as you all know- the weirder the better. I love the fascination with all this raw stuff lately and totally have toyed with the idea of going on a raw food diet for a week. Maybe when I am not about to study for finals and the bar. But anyway, if you haven’t heard, PITAYA has been popular for a year now – a very distant, more popular cousin in pop culture of the ACAI berry – but it is actually a DRAGON FRUIT! Dragon fruits are those pink crazy weird looking fruits you see at Asian supermarkets. My mom bought some once and eating the fruit inside of a real, fresh dragon fruit was totally meh. It was white on the inside with edible seeds, way slimy and lacked flavor. I had no idea that the famous pitaya was actually dragon fruit. The Asian ones however are white in flesh, whereas the Mexican and South American varieties have a red/pink hue. This is definitely a quality it shares with the acai berry: it has a big vibrant hue to it and is definitely the new craze of food health junkies. I tried a pitaya bowl for the first time a month ago at PB’s Rum Jungle and I loved it! The pitaya bowl is a lot less berry tasting, not sweet, and sorta has a slimy texture to it. Pitaya is normally paired with the same stuff as acai so they are both super interchangeable in terms of how you make them in smoothies and bowls. You can purchase pitaya packets at Whole Foods!!! Sprouts doesn’t have them yet (or at least at my local one doesn’t). I used to do a lot of those fun, fast facts about interesting food items so here are some about pitaya:
Fun facts:
1. Pitaya flowers only bloom at night so only bats and moths fertilize them. (kinda like how a bee polinizes flowers).
2. They originated in Mexico, but spread in popularity and cultivation in Southeast Asia.
3. There are many varieties- the Asian store bought ones have white meat with seeds dotted all over it inside; the smoothie pack variety is the pitahaya roja, which has a pinkish meat with seeds dotted all over it inside.
4. If you eat a lot of pitaya, your pee might turn reddish HAHAHA.
5. It has powerful antioxidents, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, fiber and omega-3s. All awesome stuff to keep you healthy and sane.
Here is a pretty powerful pitaya bowl recipe that I used for my first homemade bowl! Acai and pitaya are fun in that it can be paired with anything fun and healthy and colorful in your kitchen. Try it today since it’s so hot outside!
The search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe is never ending. That’s because there are so many different versions of this classic. Some prefer big and buttery, brown butter, crispy on the outside & chewy in the middle, thin & crispy, the list goes on and on. I have made sooooo many varieties and have no time to post them all (will get around to it someday hahah) I have been on the quest for the perfect crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle cookie for ages now. After my sister’s suggestion, I finally tried out Smitten Kitchen’s and boy was I a fan. I think I found the perfect one! She truly is a genius I have no words but praise. Without further ado, here it is!
If you like pancakes, but always slip into food coma after, this soufflé pancake is the right one for you! It is super light and fluffy but doesn’t compromise on the breakfast favorite. In fact, it is super interesting – I have never seen anything like it, unless you have been to Berkeley’s Bette’s Oceanview Diner! My sister has been talking about this place since she first went and have been trying to perfect the recipe for it. Because she did, I am sharing it with you! You can swap the bananas out for another type of fruit or just eat it plain with lots of maple syrup or raw honey. Such a treat!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!!! I hope everyone has plans, but if not, I will be going out to downtown with my roomie so come with! 🙂 I definitely am celebrating this year full force with wine, brownies, and good friends – no need for a significant other when you have so many people who love you and people you love back ❤ Hope everyone enjoys whatever you are doing and I wish everyone the best on their love life, single life, in between life, and don’t know life hahah ❤ Love love!
By the way, these brownies are totes awesome and totally low calorie and packed with protein (replaced flour with black beans) so make them for your lover and friends who are figure-conscious!
Yes yes, still baking Christmas cookies hahah I found these mini M&Ms at Target for half price after Christmas and decided to get them. I wanted to make these for my sister and my visit to the office tomorrow! So excited these turned out wonderful. They are the perfect crispy outside and soft and chewy on the inside.
Here are some crispy on the outside/soft and chewy on the inside lessons:
For a softer/chewy cookie:
Use bread flour instead of all-purpose because of the gluten in the bread flour
Use a more brown sugar to white sugar ratio
Melt butter/soften in the microwave
Refrigerate or freeze the dough for 30 min to overnight for the best results
For a crispier cookie:
Use a more white sugar to brown sugar ratio
Add an additional egg white to the mix
Of course there needs to be a good balance between it all and for this M&M cookie, I think I found a good mixture of goods to produce a crispy on the outside and soft on the inside cookie! Enjoy!
Christmas Cookie #2!!! I loveeee thumbprint cookies! When our neighbor gave us some homemade blackberry jam, with blackberries handpicked from Oregon, I only had thumbprint cookies in mind. I dont eat pb&j so jam is of no use to me unless it is in pastries or cookies! These are also awesome for any occasion, making it a delectable year round cookie!!!
There really isnt any place like home for the holidays! I love all the warm smells and holiday baking that goes on in my house! I think as I get older I feel like being at home and spending time with my family more and more. Maybe its the ‘getting old’ thats getting to me haha. I think it’s also the traditions that my family has – stuff we do every year – like put up the Christmas lights right after Thanksgiving, decorate the fresh tree the same way since my sister and I were born, presents under the tree, all the baking we do, nightly walks around the neighborhood to see our neighbor’s lights, drives around Lodi to check out Christmas lights… the list goes on and on! What are your family traditions during the holidays? On top of those regular traditions, we add new traditions every so often – for example, this year I baked some baklava and gave it to our neighbors to spread some good holiday neighborly cheer! I love how I live in Lodi and you can just walk to anyone’s house. Ever since our house got burglarized last year all of us neighbors have watched each others backs and have really stepped up in helping each other. I really hope when I get out into the real world and have my own house that I would live in a community just as friendly and welcoming as my own in Lodi. With all that said, what are you up to for the holidays and what are some of your traditions?
I had pistachio baklava at a Lebanese cafe in SD last week and didnt realize it was a holiday treat! Baklava is made of nuts and syrup and this thin phyllo dough! It lasts a long time without going bad and it’s easy to pack and cut. I hope you enjoy making it! It really isnt that hard! 🙂
Put a Ring on Annie 